Clip



11, 1960 w. s. RICHARDSON 2,955,339

CLIP

Filed July 11, 1956 INVENTOR WARREN S. RICHARDSON BY- Ma a/@ ATTORNEYS CLIP Warren S. Richardson, 1806 Atapha Nene,

' Tallahassee, Fla.

Thisinvention relates to'a clip, clip for securing together the edges of strips of shading material, such as are used in horticulture, in the growing of tobacco under shade, at swimming pools, patios, and the like. It will be described with particular reference to its use in securing together the edges of material placed over tobacco to shade it during its growth, but it is to be understood that it is not limited to such use.

Tobacco for certain purposes, notably tobacco which is to be used as wrappers for cigars, is grown under shading material to protect it from the direct rays of the sun and also to protect it against damage by insects. Such shading material is supported above a growing field of tobacco by means of a network of wires or rods supported from spaced posts. Since the shading material is manufactured in strips, and is used to cover large areas of growing tobacco, it is necessary that the edges of adjacent strips be secured together. Heretofore this has been done by sewing or lacing the adjacent edges of the strips together on wires or rods running parallel to the shading material or securing the edges together on the wires or rods by grommets with S hooks attached to the wires or rods. Also, the adjacent edges of the strips of shading material are pulled together at the wires or rods, and in some instances so-called hog rings are pinched together through the edges of the shading materiaL' For various reasons the above methods have not proved entirely satisfactory.

The present invention contemplates a clip which may be readily applied to and removed from the edges of adjacent strips of the shading material and which will securely hold the adjacent edges together without danger of injury to the shading material either during applica:

tion or while in use. Since the clips also are readily removable, no difficulties are encountered at the end of a growing season when shading material and store it away until the next season. Also, the clips may be're-used the following season.

More specifically, the clip of the present invention comprises an elongated body having a longitudinally-extending grove to receive and to be clamped about one of the wires of the wire networkand overlapping edges of adjacent strips of the shading material, and flanges extending outwardly therefrom at each side edge and which are provided with an opening to receive the end of an appropriate expanding tool to enable the clip to be opened and if removed when the shading material is to be taken down for storage. At least the inside of the groove, that is, the portion which engages and clamps against the shading material, is lined with a cushioning material so that the overlapping edges of the material may be effectively clamped together to hold a number of strands of the shading material both parallel to and at right angles to the supporting wires or rods without damage.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose the preferred form of the clip.

In the drawings:

and particularly to a it is desired to take down the Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the clip;

Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view showing the clip in operative position, clamping adjacent edges of the shading material about one of the wires of the supporting wire network;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the clip in end elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the edges of the shading material clamped together intermediate the wires of the wire network.

Referring now to the drawing, the clip is elongated and comprises a longitudinally extending central portion 1 forming a groove of generally U-shape. The ends of the legs 2 and 2' are extended to provide longitudinallyextending outwardly-curved side flanges 3 and 3'. These flanges are provided with openings 4- and 4', respectively, to receive the pointed end of a suitable expanding tool, when the clip is to be removed.

The clip is formed of metal, preferably aluminunm, or any other suitable material which may be deformed, and when deformed to clamping position will maintain such position and effectively hold the edges of the shading material together. It may be stamped from sheet metal material and rolled to form, or it may be extruded and cut into lengths of the desired size. The form of clip shown is stamped from sheet material and then rolled to the form shown. When formed in this manner it may be provided with spaced, parallel reinforcing beads 5 and 5', but, of course, such beads cannot be provided when the clip is extruded.

The side of the clip which engages the shading material is lined or covered with a suitable cushioning material 6 of rubber or any of the synthetic resinous materials having rubber-like or cushioning properties. The lining material extends outwardly to and over the free edges of the flanges 3 and 3' as indicated at 7 and 7'. This anchors the cushion lining to the clip, and assures its retention within the central groove without the use of an adhesive. Since the cushioning material is resilient, it yields when the legs 2 and 2' are pressed together to secure overlapping edges of the shading material together, either about one of the Wires of the supporting wire network or where the edges of the shading material meet between such wires. Such yielding prevents any cutting or other damage of the shading material, as well as imparting greater frictional characteristics to the gripping surfaces so that the clip more effectively holds the adjacent edges of the shading material together.

The ends of the cushioning material protrude slightly, say one-eighth inch, beyond the ends of the clip in order to avoid any possibility of any sharp edges at the ends of the clips engaging and possibly damaging the shade material, but, if desired, they could terminate flush with the ends of the clips.

The clips are applied to the edges of the strips of the shading material 8 and 8' from the underside so that the portions of the shading material adjacent the edges which are clamped together rest upon and are partially sup ported by the upper surface of the cushion liner overlying the upper faces of the flanges 3 and 3'. Since move ment of the shading material by wind, or otherwise, tends to cause a frictional movement of the material with the portion of the liner upon which it is resting, this portion of the liner is made of slightly increased thickness, as indicated at 9 and 9', to compensate for such extra wear.

To obtain the maximum holding elfectby the clip, the cushion liner 6 should not be too thick where it is clamped against the edges of the shading material, since toothick a cushion at those places will let the cushion material move in sheer and tend to let the edges of the fabric pull To further facilitate the retention of the edges of the shading material within the clip after the legs have been clamped together against them, both the inside andioutside surfaces of the cushion liner 6, at the regions 10 and 10, are formed with longitudinally-extending ribs 11 and 11. The ribs 11 on the inner surface of the liner cause greater friction resistance between the liner and the shading material when any force is exerted on the latter tending to pull it "from the clip. The ribs 11 on the outer surface of the liner, that is, the surface in contact with the inside face of the clip, causes a greater frictional resistance between the liner and the clip when any force is exerted on the shading material, thereby resisting to a greater extent any tendency to pull the liner out of the ciamping groove of the clip.

The cushioning material may be formed and applied to the clip in any mannerbut preferably is extruded in the shape shown, cut into lengths slightly greater in length than the clips and then attached to the clips; or, if the ends of the cushion liner are not to extend beyond the ends of the clip, long lengths of the extruded cushioning material may be applied to corresponding lengths of the clip material and the assembly then cut into lengths suitable for individual clips.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the clips securing overlapping edges of the strips of shading material 8 and 8 together where the shading material overlies one of the wires 12 of the supporting wire network. In applying the clips to the overlapping edges of the strips of shading material and about the supporting wire, as shown in these figures, the workman merely pulls the adjacent edges of the strips together in overlapping relationship beneath the wire and then by means of a special plier-like tool which will hold one of the clips, pushes the clip upwardly about the wire and overlapping edges of the shadingmaterial and forces the outer ends of the legs 2 and 2' together until the overlapping edges of the shading material are effectively clamped about the wire, as shown in Fig. 3. The tool preferably will have a suitable stop to limit the extent to which the ends of the legs may be forced together. This will avoid the application of undue pressure to the clips and also enable all of the clips to be applied with an equal gripping force, merely by forcing the jaws of the tool together as far as permitted by the stop.

Fig. shows the manner in which the overlapping edges of the shading material between the wires of the supporting network are secured together. At such places the overlapping edges are merely pinched together, a clip placed over the pinched-together overlapping edges and the legs of the clip then forced together by an appropriate clamping tool.

At the end of the growing season, when it is desired to take down the shading for storage until the next season, the clips may readily be removed merely by placing the pointed ends of expanding pliers into the openings 4 and 4' and pressing the handles of the pliers together. This will cause the legs to be spread apart to release their grip against the overlapping edges of the shading material. These pliers also may have a suitable stop to limit the spreading apart of the legs to their original position, thus leaving the clips in the proper position for use during the next season.

It is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of the clip as shown without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. A clip having a portion with legs forming a generally U-shaped groove within which adjacent edge portions of sheets of material are adapted to be clamped, flanges extending laterally outwardly from the outer ends of each of the leg portions forming said groove, the inside like cushioning material of the groove being lined with cushioning material, said cushioning material extending outwardly over said flanges, the outer surface of the cushioning material where it passes over said flanges being exposed, each of said flanges having an opening to receive a spreading tool when the clip is to be removed from material clamped within said groove.

2. A clip adapted for holding together adjacent edge portions of material, comprising-a portion having legs forming a generally U-shaped groove to receive overlapping edge portions of material to be clamped, said portion having at least one reinforcing bead extending along the legs and transverse to the lengthwise direction of the groove, an outwardly convex flange extending laterallyoutwardly from each of the legs of'theportion forming the groove at the open side of the groove, said flanges having an opening to receive a spreading tool when the clip is to be removed from material clamped by the legs, and a liner of cushioning material inside the groove and extending along the flanges and around the outer edges thereof, said liner of cushioning material being thicker at the crest of the flanges than it is in the groove, the thickness of the liner of cushioning material at theopen side of the groove where it is adapted to be clamped against material being less than the thickness of said liner of cushioning material at the base of the groove, the cushioning material opposite the outer portions of the legs at the entrance to the groove having ribs on both its inner and outer faces extending in the direction of the length of the groove.

3. An extended area of sheet material comprising at least two sections of sheet material having adjacent edges extending in the same direction, a clip having a portion with legs forming a generally U-shaped groove within which adjacent edge portions of the sheets of material are clamped, said clip having flanges extending laterallyoutwardly from the outer ends of each of the leg portions, the inside of the groove being lined with cushioning material, said cushioning material extending outwardly over said flanges and terminating at the outer extremities thereof, the outer surface of said cushioning material where it passes over said flanges being exposed, the thickness of the cushioning material where it extends over at least a portion of the flanges being greater than the thickness of cushioning material lining the inside of the U- shaped groove, the outer extremities of the flanges and of the cushioning material being spaced a substantial distance from the outer surfaces of the respective legs, the adjacent edge portions of the sections of'sheet material being clamped in said groove and therespective sheets of said material being drawn over and bearing on said portions of cushioning material of increased thickness.

4. An extended area of sheet material as set forth in claim 3, in which the flanges are curved and the thicker portion of the cushioning material is at the crest of the curve.

5. A clip adapted for holding together adjacent edges of material comprising a portion having legs forming a generally U-shaped, longitudinally-extending groove to receive overlapping edges of material to be clamped, the inner surfaces of said legs being smooth, and a-flange extending laterallyoutwardly from the outer ends of each of the legs of the portion forming the groove, and rubberlining the inside of the groove and extending outwardly over said flanges, the surface of the cushioning material in contact with the legs forming the groove having ribs extending lengthwise of the groove and bearing against the inner surface of the legs forming the groove, said ribs increasing the gripping effect of the cushioning material and facilitating retention of the cushioning material in the groove under forces exerted in a direction toward the opening of the groove.

(References on following page) 2,955,339 5 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,002,001 UNITED STATES PATENTS gfiggg 585,423 Bogle June 29, 1897 2,146,190 590,094 Duncan Sept. 14, 1897 5 2,466,912 692,274 Gumaer Feb. 4, 1902 2,551 374 887,979 Stockwell May 19, 1908 2,5 ,454 1,256,426 Baltzley Feb. 12, 1918 1,459,582 Dubee June 19, 1923 1,537,039 Short May 5, 1925 1 7,328 1,709,743 Sagenkahn et a1 Apr. 16, 1929 107,311 1,768,005 Schwartzman June 24, 1930 445,941

6 Beard May 21, 1931 Comstock Oct. 27, 1936 Steinberger Apr. 12, 1938 Luke Feb. 7, 1939 Rice Apr. 12, 1949 Hansen May 1, 1951 Laschke Sept. 4, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain AD. 1898 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1924 France Sept. 18, 1912 

